New Delhi: The Central Government on Wednesday announced an increase in dearness allowance from 17 per cent to 28 per cent, giving relief to the central employees. After the cabinet meeting, Union Minister Anurag Thakur said in a press conference that Dearness Allowance (DA) for central government employees and pensioners is being increased from 17 percent to 28 percent. This will come into effect from 1 July 2021.
With this, the Union Cabinet has decided to restore the Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) for Central Government employees and pensioners with effect from July 1, 2021.
Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said in a press conference after the cabinet meeting that the increase in DA and DR will put an additional burden of Rs 34,401 crore on the government’s exchequer. In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the central government had frozen three additional installments of DA and DR, which were due from 1 January 2020, 1 July 2020 and 1 January 2021. Thakur said that 48.34 lakh central employees and 65.26 pensioners would benefit from this step.